Deke Slayton ASTP Joint Operations Checklist

Collection — Box: Slayton Collections Box 1, Folder: 2021-11-18

Identifier: 2021-11-18-1

The Deke Slayton ASTP Joint Operations Checklist consists of a single item: Slayton's personal copy of the "ASTP Reference Joint Operations Checklist," published by NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, March 31, 1975. The checklist is an 80-page document with guidelines for docking and undocking the Apollo spacecraft with the Soyuz capsule during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. It also covers such topics as photo, television and movie ops; waste management; a fungi experiment; a microbial exchange experiment; and a UV absorption experiment.

Dates

1975 March 31

Creator

Slayton, Donald K., 1924-1993 (Former owner, Person)

Language of Materials

All materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. For more information contact us.

Conditions Governing Use

The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

Extent

.1 Cubic Feet (1 letter-size folder)

Additional Description

Biographical Note: Deke Slayton

Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton was a pilot for the United States Air Force, an aeronautical engineer, test pilot and then astronaut. He was selected as one of NASA's original Mercury Seven astronauts. He later became NASA's first Chief of the Astronaut Office and Director of Flight Crew Operations, responsible for NASA crew assignments. He was born in 1924 and died in 1993.

Historical Note: Apollo-Soyuz Test Project The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), which took place in July 1975, was the first joint American-Soviet space flight. The collaborative project was based on a 1972 agreement signed by U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin. It set a precedent for future joint efforts, such as the Shuttle-Mir Program and the International Space Station. The project was specifically designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems.

On July 15, 1975 the United States launched an Apollo command and service module on a Saturn IB rocket. The Apollo spacecraft was nearly identical to the type that orbited the moon but was modified to provide for experiments, extra propellant tanks and the addition of controls and equipment related to the docking module. The Apollo spacecraft carried a crew of three: Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, and Deke Slayton. It docked two days after launch on July 17, with a Soyuz spacecraft and its crew of two (Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov). The Soyuz was the Soviet's primary spacecraft used for manned flight since its introduction in 1967. NASA designed and constructed the docking module to serve as an airlock and transfer corridor between the two spacecraft. During the two days of joint activities, the mission's two Soviet cosmonauts and three U.S. astronauts carried out five joint experiments and exchanged commemorative items.

After the two spacecraft separated, teh Apollo capsule remained in space for five more days and the Soyuz capsule remained in space for two more days. The crews used the time to capture photographs fo the sun's corona and to observe and photograph the Earth from outer space, providing scientists with new data for exploring and studying the Earth from orbit.

The ASTP mission was considered successful. It was also the final flight of an Apollo spacecraft.

Existence and Location of Copies

Materials from this collection have been digitized and are available at The Museum of Flight Digital Collections.

Related Materials

The Museum of Flight archives also has the Deke Slayton Notebooks and Letter (2008-04-12); First International Space Docking Certificate (2011-06-06-1).

Processing Information

The pages of the booklet were held together by three metal O-rings. The rings were removed from the document for preservation purposes but have been retained with the document.